Cynthia Haney earned moniker of Stuart's 'national woman'

The words "our only national woman" were used by Ethel T. Porter while presenting Stuart a bas-relief of Cynthia Burnett Haney on May 1, 1928. It was Haney's 88th birthday.

In reporting the event, the South Florida Developer, one of Stuart's two local newspapers of the time, confirmed Haney's national reputation by describing her as "not only Stuart's oldest citizen, but a national figure because of her past work as a temperance lecturer and humanitarian."

Porter's words were uniquely appropriate. Haney, who came to Stuart at age 57, spent most of her life working in education and as a principle activist in the Women's Christian Temperance Union. She lived throughout the nation "doing the work," and traveled to other nations to represent the United States at WCTU World Conventions. She was truly a "national woman" by 1897 when she made Stuart her home.

Born in 1840 in Niles, Ohio, and coming of age during the suffering and sacrifice of the Civil War, Haney was determined to be an educated woman.

In 1864, she entered the Western Reserve Seminary, a private girl's school near her home. She took the "classics course" and graduated in 1868. Seeing her future in education, the 18-year-old began by teaching Latin at Orwell Normal Institution, a northeastern Ohio coeducational school that trained high school graduates as teachers.

By 1871, Haney left Ohio and was on the faculty at Beaver College, now known as Arcadia University, in Beaver, Pa. Health issues forced her to leave western Pennsylvania and move to a warmer climate. She relocated to Virginia, where she taught and served as an administrator at a teacher training school. Between 1871 and 1878, Haney spent two years teaching at a Methodist Episcopal College in Tullahoma, Tenn.

By 1879, Haney began temperance work by "donning the white ribbon," the official badge of the WCTU. She originally worked with temperance groups in Illinois and for the next six years also represented the WCTU in Florida, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

In 1885, Haney was named state organizer for Ohio.

That same year Haney moved west. Until 1889 she would do temperance work in Utah, California and Nevada.

Although the exact date is unknown, Haney left Utah, most likely in 1887, for Southern California. She would spend one or two years working as a state organizer in both California and Nevada.

In 1889, as a reward for her work in the west, Haney was made a WCTU national organizer.

Haney was forced to return to Ohio in 1889 because her mother became seriously ill. For the next eight years, Haney remained in Ohio. In 1895, Haney made her first trip abroad as an Ohio delegate to the World WCTU Convention in London.

Two years later, in 1897, asked to help organize the WCTU in Florida, Haney, who was then the still unmarried Miss Cynthia S. Burnett, found herself in Stuart. She had been sent to Florida to organize WCTU groups in Tampa, West Palm Beach and Fort Pierce.

During her visit, she was introduced to Dr. Horace Haney. To everyone's surprise, she married the doctor, who happened to have a fondness for alcohol.

The couple divorced in 1903 and Cynthia Haney chose to stay in Stuart. She helped found the Stuart Woman's Club and tutored local children.

Most importantly, she began contributing articles to local newspapers. Although Stuart did not have a newspaper at the time, Haney contributed to newspapers throughout Florida.

When the Stuart Times opened in 1913, Haney made sure she contributed to the first edition that was published. She would continue to write for Stuart newspapers and others until shortly before her death.

In 1929, the Florida Newspaper News recognized her as the state's oldest active newspaper woman. She was 89.

The people of Stuart never lost their pride in their "national woman."

On her 80th birthday in 1920, the town dedicated "Haney Circle," which still exists today. On her 88th birthday a bas-relief of her likeness, sculpted by Catherine Backus, was presented to the Woman's Club. And Haney chose to celebrate her 88th birthday by taking her first airplane ride.